Denver Light Rail Service Interrupted by Coal Train
by Radal O’Toole
posted in Antiplanner, News commentary
A Union Pacific coal train derailed in the path of adjacent light-rail tracks and a Denver light-rail train ran into one of the derailed cars. No one was injured, but the Union Pacific says it may be 36 hours before the line is cleared. In the meantime, rail riders will be bused around the accident.
A slide show shows the wintry conditions in which the accident took place. The light-rail cars are shown only in the second half of the show.
Of course, buses don’t have this problem. If a bus is involved in an accident, other buses can go around. Rail lines don’t have such easy options, which is one more reason to rely on low-cost buses instead of high-cost rails.